I am not much of a sports buff, I like to watch football(soccer) like the rest of planet earth but not a dedicated fan. I was looking into team sports, and here is what I gathered. Other than football I have only seen some clips:-
Football: can be a huge snooze fest with 90min of nothing going on and 7-8 months of competition is expected. Where football wins is the huge playground gives it a battlefield like feeling. There is a lot of drama, comedy, comebacks, surprises , and neck to neck action even to the last seconds and a lot of complex tactics and actions that can be taken. Its like a battle but in football.
Basketball : The extremely quick gameplay is not for me. You really can't tell whats going on until literally the last single digit seconds where you might be losing the title turned into winning the championship as the referee blows his whistle. Its too fast am not sure how would a coach set a plan for his team to follow.
Hockey : only popular in Canada and US for the most part. I never watched it but I think it might be a mix between football gameplay and Basketball speed. Football on fast forward if you may.
American Football: I do not get what is exciting about this one. Looks like someone is playing a turn based RPG. Team takes ball moves a little forward, gameplay stops, wait for next action. My only guess that its exciting on the technical/strategical gameplay of the coach on how he got to win a game. I am guessing its like chess where you pay attention to the strategy but not the in field action. All I see is someone picking the ball and running as far as possible before getting tackled.
Baseball: I tried to watch a game and its one of the most boring sports. you just sit there and watch someone try throwing a ball and the other hopefully hitting it with the bat. I know it has its exciting seconds but there is a lot of boring filler, actually most of it. Feels like its something that would be happening on the side while you would enjoy a social gathering or a picnic instead of watching closely.
Cricket : Never watched, going to guess similar to baseball
Rugby: Feels more exciting than American Football since the gameplay seems to more continuous but looks like total chaos. Feels like soccer but with hands.
Handball and Volleyball: Handball does not seem to excite anyone , feels like a game I like to play but not watch. As for volleyball I do not think many people enjoy watching a ball bouncing around. I never heard of much attention given to volleyball or handball games like Football World Cup or NFL SuperBowl.
This is my uneducated non-researched opinion just what I gathered. Whats your favorite team sport and why you like to watch it?